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Nuit Blanche-An All Night Art Exposition

Nuit Blanche is Toronto’s annual sunset to sunrise celebration of contemporary art. This year will be the fifth year or Nuit Blanche and it keeps getting bigger with over 130 installations.

Nuit Blanche was originally conceived in Paris, France. The name is translated universally as ‘Sleepless Night’. The idea was to bring contemporary art to the masses in public spaces.

Last night I went to Nuit Blanche pre-party for a Nuit Blanche installation that is not on the official guide. It was held at a friends photo studio with over 60 people in attendance. With that many people, many chose to hang out in the large common area of the studio complex. The common area of the studio complex has couches and chairs, but also a great view as the big garage door was open. A part of that view was another group from the next studio down, they were outside in the parking area putting the final touches on their mobile Nuit Blanche exhibit. They had built a platform that held a small band and was pulled by a bicycle.

As myself and others watched them working away, I struck up a conversation with a woman who turned out to be an art dealer from New York City. She was in Town for Nuit Blanche looking for new artists to represent and was invited to come to this pre-party for Morpheous’ installation. As we talked, I learned that she came to Toronto on business 6 or 7 times a year.

She told me most of her business is conducted in her hotel room and at the studios of the artists she was looking at. When she needed to meet with corporate art buyers, she found her hotel room to be too impersonal, so she would rent out a small parlour in the hotel. She had considered renting a Toronto office space with Toronto meeting rooms, it was not worth it for the few times she was in the city each year. She did not need a virtual office or a Toronto mail service, as all her contracts and business dealings were done through her New York office space.